This Question is for my education - now that I have become smart enough to get into an owners "History" I have been surprised at the number of owners who have been in many leagues but for only 1 or 2 years - then . A pattern that will drive a private league commish crazy.

I'm curious what is the driver for this pattern. What gets these owners to join a league? Why do they leave? What would make them commit to a league over several years?? Most importantly what is the best indication that they will make a longer term commitment (3 or more years) (ie as a commish why should I trust them to be back next year)?

I would prefer to hear from the "One and Doners" (examine your record to see if you fit this description) rather from the "One and Doners" critics.

A lot of times I took over abandons with no strings attached. With the amount of open teams a lot of Commishes just want a warm body to run the team. Sometimes I liked the team/league enough to keep the a 2nd season. Sometimes I commited to a 2nd for the abandoned team, and did so, but didn't like the league for whatever reason.

My record has a lot of abandons on it, but none of the good teams I had to give away for personal reasons. Most people here know that I wont wreck the team and have NEVER abandoned a team. Everytime I've I handed the team over while I was still managing it.

Why others do one and dones I have no idea. Maybe they get bored and move around. If you want a longer commitment, ask for it. You get a 10$ bonus every 5, but that really isn't a HUGE incentive. Maybe if they made a free season, more would be inclined to stay 5 seasons or more.

My only "one and done" was due to the fact that the league, originally Braggin' Rights, changed format after my first season. So my "one and done" was caused by a fundamental shift in the league concept.

I would suspect that there are others that will tell you that they after a season or two because of commish changes, massive ownership changes, and other fundamental shifts in the league's character. I believe that this is a legitimate reason for a "one and done".

I would just like to add that on my own record you can see that I've been to the same leagues twice. Im usually welcome to return at a later time. I dont think its so much the one and done as it is how you leave.

If you've either improved the team or gave it to someone rather than abandoning it, its a lot easier for commishes to deal with.

There are some commishes that actually seek me out to "babysit" their abandoned teams. I dont mind what it does to my record. I know which are which.

I keep all my one-and-done abandonment pickups on my other ID. I also make it clear to the commishes when I pick up an abandoned team that I will be a one-and-done, and they should only give the team to me if they cannot find a long-term committed owner, to treat me as a last resort.

But I'm also curious about the thought-processes of the paying one-and-done owners. I'm guessing that some of the possible reasons would be: they didn't like their team and didn't want to go through the effort of re-making it; they didn't like the "personality" of the world; etc.

One season in Mantle (a public world) we had a veteran owner picking up a team at rollover and immediately announce that he was only going to be there for that season only. That was a real head-scratcher for me.

I've gotten rid of my aliases. I used one for football and one for basketball. It'd be nice if my record was perfect I guess. Maybe I should change to a different ID, but then I'd be a rookie again.

I think if they pay and leave without abandoning the team, who cares? Some people have busy lives. Some people have a little extra money here and there and want an additional team or two. I think the best way to combat this is to ask for X number of years during recruitment and then you can call these guys out.

I've felt the pain of the commishes who want the LT commitments and dropped the number of teams I run by 2/3. Admittedly its mostly due to finances and I've spent wayyyy to much on this game already as it is.

Staying and building a team almost guarantees me some credits so its working out ok. I'm a guy who has a ton of time and not enough $$s.

This brings me to back to a different thread where I mentioned that owners should get to play for use of the site per month rather than per team. Would keep the leagues rolling over faster and most commishes are aware who the fools are.

With five teams presently, I actually leave the house sometimes so I guess that is good.

Anyways I'll let someone else up their post count now.

It's 14 bucks to sign up. 25 if you want a second try. There's your answer. That's a lot of money for some people.

I was referring to the owners who sign up for a series of leagues with the same "handle" = $25 each league - then move on in a year or 2 - still would like some owners who have tended to do this to explain the psychology to me, as a commish I want to understand why this occurs.

I understand the "taking an abandon team" phenomenon as a way of playing on the cheap but I don't think that is what is occurring most of the time.

a_ersberg you correctly point out one of the many flaws in WIS marketing but not the "one and done" I was referring to

Ummm....stupid question time. How do you look at an owners history? I know how to find a record of their current teams, but have no idea how to see past teams they have given up.

Quote: Originally Posted By dakar on 11/01/2009Ummm....stupid question time. How do you look at an owners history? I know how to find a record of their current teams, but have no idea how to see past teams they have given up

Not stupid for me - took me 2 years to realize I could do this

To my knowledge this only works from a league standing - not elsewhere (so if the owner is not in a league I can not get the information). If someone knows better way to do it sitemail me please.

1) find the owner in the standings(I used joey belle) and click on his name which brings up this page for you = http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/UserProfile.aspx?uid=342903

2) click on history and your entire history is now available - you have been in 3 worlds with 1st place division finishes in LOCO and Roy Hobbs (congrats)

when you click on other owners you find "one and done" histories - for example http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/UserProfile.aspx?uid=639323 - with 6 to 8 "one and dones" in his history - this is the pattern I do not understand and am looking for someone who does it to explain the reasoning.

Aahhh. I knew all that up through clicking on history, but never realized you could use that little pull-down to check out each world and see the previous ones. Thanks griv!

Quote: Originally posted by grivfmd1 on 11/01/2009when you click on other owners you find "one and done" histories - for example http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/UserProfile.aspx?uid=639323 - with 6 to 8 "one and dones" in his history - this is the pattern I do not understand and am looking for someone who does it to explain the reasoning.

Personally, it looks like a case of someone 'fishing' for a good team. I remember when this owner was in Mays (he was in my division) that he had almost no previous experience but was in about 8-9 leagues at the same time. Looks like he kept the best and discarded the rest.